BOARD & STAFF

BONNIE FOGEL
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Bonnie Fogel has guided the organization from its creation in 1979 as a PTA project in an elementary school to the acclaimed national institution it has become. Prior to Imagination Stage, she worked as an independent writer and journalist. In the United Kingdom, she worked in the communications department of retail giant, Marks & Spencer. In the United States, she worked for Pittsburgh Public Schools and The National Parks & Recreation Association. In the community, she serves on the Advisory Board of the Siena School and on the Scholarship Committee for Leadership Montgomery. She is a former Board Member of the BCC Chamber of Commerce and a founding member of the BCC’s Cultural Arts Committee and the Committee for a Bethesda Cultural District. In 2004, Bonnie was named a Washingtonian of the Year. Other awards include: Montgomery County ArtStars Award (2005); Maryland’s Top 100 Women (2006), Smart CEO Award, (2007), Theatre Washington Helen’s Star (2012), Montgomery Women Shining Star Award (2014), and recipient of the Gelman, Rosenberg, & Freedman Excel Award for nonprofit management (2015).

JANET STANFORD
FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Janet Stanford is the 2017 winner of the Harold Oaks Award for Innovation in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA). Since 1993, Janet has heightened the profile of professional theatre at Imagination Stage by commissioning more than 50 new works, adopting an Actors’ Equity contract, and successfully advocating for the inclusion of TYA productions in the Helen Hayes Awards. Janet has brought many distinguished artists to the theatre including artist/activist Rebecca Rice and playwrights David S. Craig, Charles Way, Karen Zacarias, Joan Cushing, Eric Coble, Barry Kornhauser, and Psalmayene 24. Under her leadership, the theatre has created educational plays for teens about biotechnology, introduced Theatre for the Very Young to audiences in the USA, co-produced and co-commissioned with other top TYA theatres both in the USA and abroad, and partnered with Health & Human Services organizations to bring theatre experiences to non-traditional audiences. Janet has traveled on grants from S. America, to Europe and Asia in search of new partners and inspiration for Imagination Stage programs. She has twice been nominated for Helen Hayes Awards for Best Director and has written several plays for children including The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, Aladdin’s Luck, and Dickens’ Davy Copperfield.